Seon/skaze = spren?

[Alumínio he/him]

In essence, a spren and a seon/skaze are the same thing, separate investiture from the main body, so, when making a contract with one of them shouldn't you receive access to some type of magic?

Or some way to interpret the magic of sel (this place confuses me)

[Treamayne]

Welcome to the Forums. May I ask what, if any, Cosmere Stories you have or have not read (whichever list is shorter)? Just so we can avoid spoilers, should it become necessary.

13 minutes ago, Alumínio said:

In essence, a spren and a seon/skaze are the same thing, separate investiture from the main body, so, when making a contract with one of them shouldn't you receive access to some type of magic?

Or some way to interpret the magic of sel (this place confuses me)

Seons and Skaze are Splinters of Devotion and Dominion respectively. Higher spren on Roshar are also considered splinters, but unlike Seons and Skaze, they are each a combination of Honor and Cultivation (most likely*).

Also, the natures of their bonds are different. The Spren of Roshar are bound by Oaths and specifically tied to perceived natural forces (Surges) and learned to grant Surgebinding by mimicking what Honor created in the Honorblades via the Nahel Bond. Whereas Seons (since we don't have much information on Skaze bonds - if they have such) have a more personal (devoted) Bond with their mortal, and provides access to their inherent abilities like Directional finding, Spiritual Realm Communication, etc.

Hope that helps.

*Note:

Spoiler

It is possible that Honorspren and wholly of Honor and Cultivationspren are wholly of Cultivation - but the WoB implies there is more likely something like a 90%/10% ratio there - the exact mix of Honor and Cultivation in each spren race is different.

Quote

Questioner

Is there a specific Shard that most of the spren come from?

Brandon Sanderson

Most of the spren are going to be related to a combination of Honor and Cultivation, weighted certain directions for certain types of spren. But the spren are mostly both of them. 

Questioner

Are they considered Splinters?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, you could call spren Splinters if you wanted to. They work in the same way as a Splinter, so yeah.

 

 

[Argenti he/him]

55 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

each a combination of Honor and Cultivation (most likely*).

Notable exceptions may include the Nightwatcher and the Stormfather.

[Treamayne]

54 minutes ago, Argenti said:

Notable exceptions may include the Nightwatcher and the Stormfather.

I'm sorry if it was unclear that I was referencing the Radiant Spren. Also, Stormfather is definitely more than just a Splinter (unclear on Nightwatcher yet).

[alder24]

11 hours ago, Alumínio said:

In essence, a spren and a seon/skaze are the same thing, separate investiture from the main body, so, when making a contract with one of them shouldn't you receive access to some type of magic?

Or some way to interpret the magic of sel (this place confuses me)

I will provide some WoBs.

Spren or Roshar and Seon/Skaze on Sel are both Splinters bonding via the same mechanism, but what's given by this bond is determined by what's "inside" Splinter's soul. Seon/Skaze won't give you access to Rosharan Surgebinding, they're already giving you something else (but it might be possible to squeeze some powers from them). Moreover you can summon Seon/Skaze as a Shardblade, but you would need something more to pull them into the Physical Realm:

Spoiler

Thadamin

How important are bonds like the Nahel Bond and a seon bond in the Cosmere?

Brandon Sanderson

I'd say very important.

Thadamin

Is this kind of bond relatively common or is what seons, spren, and Nightblood do little more rare among Splinters. I'm specifically talking about the act of making bonds not a giving of magic powers really, that appearing to be function of Roshar. Also regarding your post about Stormlight 3 I am personally okay with 2000 pages if need be so make the chapters as long as you want.:)

Brandon Sanderson

The bonding is basically the same mechanic, regardless of the world, just with different flavoring. Roshar isn't the only place where the bond gives powers; it's a matter of what's stuffed into the soul, and how.

/r/books AMA 2015 (June 19, 2015)

 

Spoiler

Argent (paraphrased)

Is the bond between a seon and its master similar to the Nahel bond between a Surgebinder and his spren?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes.

Steelheart Chicago signing (Oct. 1, 2013)

 

Spoiler

Questioner

What's the relationship between spren and seons?

Brandon Sanderson

They are the same thing from different magics.

Questioner

Okay, exact same thing from different magics?

Brandon Sanderson

"Exact," may be a little too strict, but yeah.

Questioner

So a seon can be transferred to another person, right?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Questioner

Can a spren?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Skyward Houston signing (Nov. 19, 2018)

 

Spoiler

Questioner

If an Elantrian bonded to a Seon were to travel to Roshar, would that act as a Nahel bond?

Brandon Sanderson

It would act very, very similarly, yes. But it would be like... it wouldn't necessarily do the exact same things. Like if you've got two radios tuned to a frequency, they won't necessarily pick up another radio frequency, or things like this. I don't know, that's a bad metaphor, I'd have to think of a better one. But it would be treated exactly the same way but it might not grant the same powers.

Words of Radiance Washington, DC signing (March 20, 2014)

 

Spoiler

paperstones

Could a seon or a skaze turn into some sort of Shardblade on their home planet?

Brandon Sanderson

That is theoretically possible.  They work under the same fundamentals but they would need to have something to pull them more into the Physical Realm.  

Words of Radiance Omaha signing (March 13, 2014)

 

[Argenti he/him]

Ishar could probably do it.